Intro / Outro (00:03):

Welcome to Women in Sales, a podcast hosted by Jenni Lee Crocker, where we spotlight the voices, stories and strategies shaping the future of sales. In each episode, Jenni Lee sits down with inspiring women across industries to share real experiences, practical insights and lessons from their journeys to success. Now let's get started.

Jenni Lee Crocker (00:29):

Hi, I'm Jenni Lee Crocker. I'm with Alliant Insurance Services, and I'm also the host of the Women in Sales podcast. And today I get the great pleasure of having Kristin Searcy with me. Let me tell you about Kristin. Kristin is a Workforce Strategy Advisor, but more than that, she's a great connector of people. She also, she and I share a lot in common in terms of our commitment to our health. She also, she shares, she's one of those people that isn't just keeping the things that she's learned about her health journey to herself. She's going share it with you. She is an amazing mom who is a giant in terms of how she parents and cares about her daughter and I am just grateful to have her here today for our topic, which is Empathy as a Tool. Kristin, welcome.

Kristin Searcy (01:19):

Thank you. Thank you for having me, and thank you for the introduction.

Jenni Lee Crocker (01:23):

Yeah, well, you are all those things, a connector, a great mom, and also truly a business advisor to your clients.

Kristin Searcy (01:32):

I appreciate that. Excited to be here today and excited to talk about empathy.

Jenni Lee Crocker (01:36):

So, okay, let me start with my premise. I believe that great producers have empathy and it is a tool that you can refine and deploy. And in my mind, women have this in a very distinct and unique way that we can deploy actively. Tell me how you might use your personal empathy as an advantage in meeting with a client.

Kristin Searcy (02:02):

Yeah, so I think empathy is one of those things. Even as a woman, I think in a male dominated industry, we're pivoting as moms and we're working in masculine and feminine energy. But really, when I think of empathy and intuition, it's that pause, right? And it's not only listening, but it's using all your senses, right? So, reading the room from what you see visually watching people's body language, listening, hearing their voice, not their words, but how they speak. And I think that really that allows me to understand the root cause of how I could potentially help them.

Jenni Lee Crocker (02:42):

Right. How often, Kristin, when you're either preparing for a meeting or you walk out of a meeting and the team will say, well, these are the reasons why they would choose us as their broker. And you pause and go, well, hold on, I think that that CFO might be really busy and that might be important to the industry, but I don't know if that's important to that person. I feel like that's something that happens to me pretty often where I am using my empathy to dig into what I believe is important to the human and not just the industry or the company. What about you?

Kristin Searcy (03:19):

I mean, I feel like it happens every single time. I always say when you look at all the decision makers at the table or the team you're working with to maybe provide a solution or a service, right? I always say we have to win the mind of the CEO and the CFO, but the hearts of the HR team. And so there's lots of personalities. So yeah, when we kind of unpack a meeting, it's always interesting to me what they think the decision criteria is and what I heard. And so when we start unpacking it, they're focused on their lane of expertise and maybe they brought value for that specific situation or solution or gap or whatever we're discussing. But they're kind of missing like the overall of how they're going to make the decision and the timeline and whether they're really ready to move forward and what that process looks like. So I would say probably all the time, maybe not, 90% of the time.

Jenni Lee Crocker (04:10):

I like that when you said you unpack it, so when you unpack it, is that your debrief with the team and you go, I know what they said the criteria is, but let's talk about the real criteria.

Kristin Searcy (04:20):

Yeah, that's basically it. Especially when you look at situations like RFPs or you've been presented with an email or an outline or an agenda. I think that's where empathy comes in. Like, yeah, they've given you areas of what they want to discuss, but if you're really asking good questions and using your intuition, and that means you're pausing, right? And there's a lot of pausing to tap into that empathy and intuition and not just run through the presentation. And that's why I feel like if we have talked more than they have talked, then we have not done our job because it's really about them doing all the talking and us asking and pausing and asking and pausing. So that's what I find.

Jenni Lee Crocker (05:01):

So let's talk about that intuition. Do you think that people can help hone their empathy meter? Do you think that that's a skill that you can either improve or grow?

Kristin Searcy (05:11):

Absolutely. Once again, you know, when we talk about our self-care, like we're both into walking and drinking our Lemon water. I'm into meditation. I'm not saying everyone has to meditate, but I think it's a mindfulness, right? Like so before you go into an appointment, taking a couple deep breaths, making sure that you're centered to be a good listener and coming in to be of service and how can you solve a problem? And so when you kind of like set that mindset to come in and with that kind of intention, then you know, you can pause and say, hold on one second. I think we might be getting off track. I'm looking at your face and you look a little confused. Did we answer the question correctly? And so that's kind of what I do before meetings, just making sure, like I've taken a few deep breaths, I'm coming in to be of service. And that way I know I can pause throughout the presentation or even kick my teammate under the table or nudge someone or give them a look like, Hey, we're going down a rabbit hole, they don't care about this. We're losing, right,

Jenni Lee Crocker (06:11):

Right, right.

Kristin Searcy (06:12):

Kind of thing. Like just someone's gots to be kind of reading the room. And so I think that's really what empathy and intuition is like, are you reading the room?

Jenni Lee Crocker (06:22):

So I like that you said that you pause and you get centered before you have a meeting because you want to listen. I love that because two things you don't want to see when somebody comes in your office. I don't want to see somebody who's either coming in frantic or coming in hot because those two things mean that you're not even in a place where you can listen. Right. And that seems very critical to what you just described.

Kristin Searcy (06:48):

Yeah. And I think this day and age, when we're inundated with emails and texts and LinkedIn and people calling us, you know, it's hard to run from one appointment to the other, especially if you've had back to back zooms. So I've actually started putting white space on my calendar, making sure I give myself appropriate time to have that five minutes, whether it's getting on a Zoom or driving so I can, like, I don't take a phone call, I put my phone on airplane mode purposely, intentionally to give myself that time. 'cause I know I've got to get into that space to be a good listener and be curious, right? If I'm not curious, then I'm not going do my potential new client. I'm going do them a disservice if I'm not really listening and being present in that moment.

Jenni Lee Crocker (07:34):

So this makes me really happy because this isn't a direction I didn't think we'd go today, but that concept of being mentally ready to receive what that person has to say, and it, it does matter because you've seen people who are going to present, yes, I'm here to present.

Kristin Searcy (07:50):

Yep, I'm ready. I'm got my, yeah, <laugh>,

Jenni Lee Crocker (07:52):

Let's go through the PowerPoint, let's present, let's present. But the more effective producer would probably have two things going on for them, and I want to make sure I'm hearing you right. They would have great questions prepared, which we've talked about before, the open-ended questions, and then the ability to pause and take it, like hear what that person actually has to say to your question.

Kristin Searcy (08:15):

Yeah. And I think it brings that like human component too, to like, you know, we're all the same, we're not robots. And so when you're natural in a presentation and you say, you know what, hold up one second, I'm taking notes right now and I think I heard what you said, but can you say that again or did I hear this correctly? And you give yourself permission to pause in the presentation. I think they appreciate that because they know that you're listening. And, I think it's great to come in with good questions and a great PowerPoint and feel like you're about to solve all their problems. But the best meetings I have had is where we come off of that PowerPoint presentation deck and then it turns into a conversation and, that's just there as a tool to make sure we are respectful of their time and we've covered everything. But I think some producers or people in a sales position just go in and they blaze through the presentation and they miss all the opportunities for questions or for something else, another gap or an unspoken need to come up that really could be what they, you know, is the DDD, I can't say the word...

Jenni Lee Crocker (09:21):

Differentiator. I got you.

Kristin Searcy (09:23):

Thank you. <laugh>. Yes. See the human, the humanness there. There you go. Right? But I mean, it allows you to like uncover something that every other person came in with their PowerPoint, they ran the same presentation. And when you pause and you let something else rise from the surface that you didn't even know was on their table to address, then now like you're like, wow, we didn't even realize we had this other gap or issue. And now talk about being different and really being a true partner and advisor and consultant and someone they can trust. I mean, you've now brought something up that they weren't aware of.

Jenni Lee Crocker (10:00):

Yeah, you've changed the dialogue and what a sign of respect, right? So what I, what I glean from that, Kristin, is that I just heard you say, oh, thank you Miss CFO, I'm over here taking notes. I heard something or I saw something and I want to pause. I don't think I've ever had a producer who was selling me something do that. But I would consider that a genuine sign of respect. I want to hear you and what a basic human need, right? Like, thank you for pausing to confirm and clarify and also hear more of what I had to say.

Kristin Searcy (10:34):

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it happened to me today. We know private equity is a big deal in our space. And I met with a CFO today that they're backed by private equity. They are the decision maker around all vendor partnerships. And so some people would just kind of, okay, well thank you for your time, I'm out. But I paused and I was like, can you elaborate? And what does that mean, like today versus six months from now? Like, can you tell me more of how that relationship could evolve? Sure. And when I paused, then all of a sudden she was like, well, actually we just got the option to now be in control of our own merger acquisition growth. And we think, you know, and then the conversation changed and now she, right. It evolved up.

Jenni Lee Crocker (11:17):

So Kristin, I think you've helped me prove that empathy is a secret weapon for producers. I think that women are very uniquely qualified to hear and listen, you've given us some great tips and tricks, right? You talked to us about get that phone on airplane mode. My favorite tip and trick that you've given me today is pause before you walk in. Take a second and make yourself get into the place where I'm actively a listener at this moment. I love that. Anything else before we sign off that you think, I would love to share this as one of your, like, do these things and your empathy and your listening skills will always be up.

Kristin Searcy (11:57):

No, I just think taking the deep breaths and coming in with that mindset of curiosity. I'm here to be a listener and be of service and I think it's just something you practice, like anything else you want to build, right? You just, you know, you may not nail it the first time

Jenni Lee Crocker (12:11):

I'm a fan. I like that. We'll take that as our takeaway mindset of curiosity with your clients. That's wonderful. Okay, so this was episode four. I've thoroughly enjoyed having you. I've learned so much today and I went in a direction I didn't expect, and that's brilliant. That is the best day. So Kristin, you are a great guest. I'm sure we'll have you on in the future. Thank you again. Very grateful. Thanks Kristin.

Kristin Searcy (12:35):

Thank you for having me.

Intro / Outro (12:37):

Thank you for listening to Women in Sales with Jenni Lee Crocker. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, share it with a colleague, and leave a review to help more women discover these conversations. We'll see you next time for more stories, insights, and inspiration from women leading the way in sales.